While Joint Warrior events got us used to see 104th Phoenix and 51st PVO going head to head, this time, the two iconic squadrons have joined forces in this first OPFOR event of 2015 to fly as the aggressor team, i.e the opposing force or OPFOR. The mission was to stand in the way of a coalition of 27 pilots (Redfor) made of independent pilots as well as some others coming from virtual squadrons. Redfor’s task was to inflict as much damage as possible to OPFOR air and ground assets.
Being outnumbered nearly 3 to 1, OPFOR pilots have put up an amazing fight loosing only 1008 to 825 on the overall scoreboard to very organized and talented Redfor pilots who started racking up the points since the early stages of the battle.
Upon their first participation, the 77th pilots have made their presence very much felt with an air-to-air first place achieved by Pyromaniac while squad-mate Doktormarg worked out his way into the runner up position.
Both Eagle drivers have scored valuable kills over some of the best pilots in the community, earning in the process their tickets into the exclusive top 10 of the pilot rankings.
The combination of these two performances has allowed the S77th squadron to earn the 3rd spot in the air-to-air squadron ladder straight away and right behind the dominating 104th Phoenix and 51st PVO. Undoubtedly, the recent addition of the 77th Savage into the mix will add a lot to the upcoming events and bring the inter-squad rivalry to a whole new level.
Pyromaniac’s best air-to-air performance was shared by an excellent Ocelot, a Finnish pilot who was also making his first appearance on the SA virtual battlefield. Ocelot’s clean sheet with two kills over 104th pilots while surviving the entire three-hour air battle has earned him the 7th spot of the pilot rankings.
Riptide from the aggressor team has pulled off the best individual performance as an aggressor pilot with 3 confirmed kills before getting shot down. Two of Riptide’s victims, flying MiG-29’s were caught on a fantastic TWS double tap from some 20 miles away.
Through this performance, Riptide has secured just enough points to move ahead of Teknetinium and take the 2nd place in the pilot rankings right behind squadron fellow pilot, Maverick the holder of the 2nd best performance within the OPFOR team with 3 kills prior to own loss.
Maverick’s outstanding consistency and effectiveness during past battles and through this event has allowed him to defend his crown as the top ranked pilot for a total of 7 times now, becoming the only pilot in the history of the SA Rankings to achieve such a record. The Scottish ace was also the last man standing from the OPFOR side and had been in perfect shape to retreat and make it back home safely, though he decided to press on alone against the odds, getting surrounded by multiple bandits toward the end of the battle and still snatching a formidable additional gun kill before succumbing.
The air-to-ground arena was dominated by Honos from the 71st EDP squadron. Honos did a wonderful job over Maykop by wiping out multiple OPFOR ground assets under perfect air cover, showing patience, accuracy and good coordination with the air superiority guys throughout the battle. Honos has now taken the lead of the air-to-ground pilot rankings and has largely contributed to own squadron moving into the second place of the squadron air-to-ground rankings.
A detailed version of the results can be found here.
The next OPFOR episode has been re-branded to “Red Flag”, which is again the name used in real life similar force on force drills conducted by multiple air forces. This second event of 2015 is scheduled to take place on Saturday 2nd of May at 17:00 Zulu time.
3 hours only were needed for the event to sold out. This gives a clear idea on how keen the pilots are to, once again, ignite the DCS PvP arena.
